I have just returned from a week away as noted in PT 3. For this trip, I did not take my 800W petrol generator as a back up source of charging. The results were a “mixed bag” of conclusions for my set up.
I’ll first note what my set up for this trip was re power stations, batteries, capacities, solar and charging, along with the weather, which was at extremes and had varying consequences.
Then for my setup, the conclusions I have reached and the reasons for that. (This will include noting [articular devices, not Bluetti, but typical when off grid camping.
1 Like
SETUP (Brands noted are available in Australia)
4 x4 - Auxiliary battery = Slimline Baintech 75Ah LFP, with an inbuilt 20Amp DC-DC charger powered from the vehicle alternator. Devices Powered - Engel 40lt Combi fridge and freezer. (Freezer set to -16C or 3.2F). Plus a Travel Buddy 12VDC oven, rated at 6Amps when running.
Caravan - House batteries = 2 x 100Ah LFP Pylontech. Solar Panels = 1 x 160W Topray Mono, on roof and fixed. Plus, 2 x 150W Hardkorr “Crockskin” Solar mats, angled and positioned roughly north facing. The battery management system is a Projecta PM300, which is combi 240VAC charger at 30A, MPPT solar controller at 30A and an unused DC voltage sensing relay charger from alternator. I installed a Redarc 1225N DC-DC 25Amp charger in place of the VSR and set to LFP profile.
Power Stations - I took an Elite 100 v2 and an AC70 with me for this trip and both were charged to 100% prior to departure.
Supplementry - I also took my Charger 1 (not installed to the 4x4 and more on this later) Plus, a spare 100Ah Pylontech 100Ah LFP.
Devices powered from the Bluettis - Caravan microwave = Dometic 700W (rated at 1184W). I took the Dune 2,000W induction hot plate, a K Mart 900W Air Fryer and a small 900-1100W electric kettle, but did not use them, more on that. Plus a 2 x Electric toasted sandwich press, which was used.
1 Like
At this point I’ll note the weather and its effect on my subsequent decisions. I left on the Friday, arriving at camp early afternoon and weather was moderate and fine. By the time I had set everything up, it was late afternoon.
Saturday = Hot and dry 32C, Sunday = Hotter and dry 36C, Monday = Warm, humid, showers and overcast 26C, Tuesday = Cool, heavy rain, very overcast 22C, Wednesday = moderate, cloudy, occasional rain 20C, Thurday = Cloudy, occasionally fine cool to cold at night 20C and Friday = Fine occasional cloud, sunny 22C.
I also took a small personal evaporative cooler that works from 12VDC via cig plug or an inbuilt 6Ah lead acid batttery. Which on the first week end was used most of the day from the caravan house batteries.
1 Like
Weather Affect -
For Saturday and Sunday, I got plenty of solar and the caravan batteries were fully charged by early afternoon. My average daily use, van fridge is 12V and other items is approx 50-60Ah between solar stop and next day solar start. However, it was too hot to use the Induction or Air Fryer, so microwave was used from the Elite 100.
The Elite was then plugged in via a home made Anderson to MC4 cable to the Caravan house batteries and trickle charged at 95-100W the next day during solar input… Usage from the Elite 100 was approx 150W. I also used the 12V oven in the rear of the 4x4 on the Sunday to heat a couple of mini pizzas using the Auxiliary battery. Next post is where it got “interesting”.
Things got interesting on the Monday for 3 days of bad weather. My solar setup will normally give me 25 Amps input to the caravan, however the weather dropped this to between 2-5 Amps for most of the day.
I was faced with the caravan battery at 62% on Monday evening, so I used what was in the 100Ah Pylontech, via the Charger 1 to top up the caravan house batteries. The Pylontech was at approx 25% SOC after this and I forgot to bring my Victron AC charger for it.
I faced a similar situation on Tuesday evening, so I transferred via AC, from the AC70 until it was at 5% SOC.
Then on Wedneday, I went for a drive, with the AC70 on Charge from the Charger 1, which was connected to my Auxilary battery. Charger 1 was set to 25V output which gave 315W charge to the AC70. I then kept driving to top up the Auxiliary. The Charger 1 output was set at 25V so that the Auxiliary battery’s SOC was under very little extra load.
I moved camp on the Thursday, so managed to top up everything, caravan batteries and both Bluettis.
1 Like
CONCLUSIONS
- I have enough Solar to recharge everything noted above, when there is clear sunshine, Summer and Winter.
- If the weather is bad, I have no where near enough solar and neither the space or weight capacity to carry enough.
- During this trip and due to not having my generator with me, I did not have enough battery capacity to try the Induction Cooktop or Air Fryer.
- The generators I have are a Honda 2kVA, which is, at my age, is getting too heavy to lug around and find space to carry. The other is a Gentrax 0.8kVA with a max continuous run of 600W, which is border line to run the Elite 100s 600W charge and not far off that charging the caravan.
- Final conclusions are; I do need to carry a petrol genrator, just in case. I kind of knew that as on the last 3 week prospecting trip, I needed to use it 4 times when the weather was bad. I also think it is time to part company with the 2 above generators and buy a Honda or Yamaha 1,000W generator as they have a continuous run load of 900W and are roughly 13kgs in weight. Most of that can be accommodated by leaving the 11kg Pylontech at home.
1 Like
Sometime next year, once I sort out the generators and assess slightly more solar, I will check the Induction cooktop and Air Fryer. Possibly something I can do at home anyway.
As I have never used either, it would perhaps be wise to try cooking something like bacon and eggs on the Induction and Chicken n Chips in the Air Fryer, to at least get the settings right.
The aim of this Part 4 is to inform users that Solar in sun gave me what I wanted at around 350W. But, in bad weather I was lucky to get 50W from a 460W array. I don’t want to need to go for a drive, just to charge batteries.
As an aside - I checked my home solar array on my App as it logs output. I have a 6.6kW array on a 5.0kW inverter. On Saturday/Sunday when hot I got close to 40kWh of production. On the Tuesday (Bad weather day) I got just under 6.0kWh and these panels are angled on the roof pitch.
1 Like
This is a screenshot of the AC70 via the App being charged from the Charger 1 set to 25VDC.
The actual wattage eventually stabilised at 215W
The Charger 1 was connected to my Aux 4x4 battery - 75Ah LFP. During the below screenshot the Engel fridge was not cyling.
I also have a 110W solar panel on the 4x4 roof, that was outputing around 5A. The Aux battery has an inbuilt 20Amp DC-DC charger, so the net charge of 8.86A meant that the Charger 1 was using approx 16A of the total 25A input. I drove until the AC70 SOC was at 100%, then returned to camp. During the return trip, the full 20-25A went to the Aux battery and both it and the AC70 were at 100% on return.
My aim was to Charge the AC70, without lowering the Aux battery’s SOC. Whilst at the same time, not overloading the alternator.
One common issue with using a power station in a caravan - Here in AU, the input power cord is fitted with a 15A plug, which will not fit in small power stations, such as the AC70, AC180 or Elite 100 as well as others, they have 10A sockets. The second issue is, that even when using a conversion lead, it is outside in the elements and difficult to get inside without using an open window.
As with most caravans in AU, the power cord is then connected to all internal AC power points through a circuit breaker and or RCD depending on age of RV.
The only other option is to position the power station somewhere in the caravan and plug devices directly into it, which is not always convenient and more than likely means cables and or extension leads on the floor or over the internal furniture and fittings. Not the safest mothod either electrically or from a trip hazard perspective.
I have come up with a method of powering all of my caravan power points internally, without using the main 15A input cable. (My caravan cable is hard wired, which means if the internal points are live, so are the pins of that plug. But it is able to be isolated via the main circuit breaker.)
As my method is inherently dangerous, particularly with others nearby and especially children, I will not detail what I do. I travel solo, I am the only one using and managing what I do and only connect by this method when using the power station. Suffice to say, I made up a power lead to do this and have methodology in place to mitigate risk.